The Contribution of Volunteering to Volunteers’ Life: The Case of Volunteering Beneficiaries Turned Volunteers

Yitzhak Ben Yair, Keshet Ozeri, Alen S. York, Natti Ronel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This study addresses the process experienced by youth who started out as volunteering beneficiaries in treatment settings and became volunteers for at-risk youth themselves. Using the phenomenological approach, the study included 10 Israeli interviewees aged 20 to 30 who were regular volunteers. The findings suggested three themes related to the process experienced by the volunteers: (1) perceived altruism—the altruism attributed to the volunteers who had benefited the participants as youths; (2) the identity transformation from beneficiary to benefactor; and (3) acquired altruism—the acquisition of that trait by the participants. Applying the principles of positive criminology, this study shows how attributing altruism to the behavior of the volunteer can serve as fertile ground for acquiring altruism oneself, in a process that eventually results in volunteering for the benefit of others.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)249-266
Number of pages18
JournalInternational Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology
Volume69
Issue number2-3
Early online date22 Apr 2023
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.

Keywords

  • acquired altruism
  • at-risk youth beneficiaries
  • perceived altruism
  • volunteering

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